Double-overtime goal sinks Pack.
PUEBLO, Colo. (GoThunderWolves.com - Sept. 21, 2011) - In a hotly-contested showdown between two archrivals, CSU-Pueblo and UC-Colorado Springs faced off on a soggy Rawlings Soccer Complex field Wednesday night, with UCCS pulling out an overtime thriller 2-1.
The incredibly physical game got heated near the end of the second half, when the cautions started to pick up, including one that would shape the game.
A red card to Jamie Prakhine (So., Arvada, Colo.) on a hard tackle in the game's 75th minute put the ThunderWolves down a man, already trailing 1-0. Despite the shorthanded situation, CSU-Pueblo was able to make lemonade out of lemons, luring UCCS into committing a costly foul inside the box and setting up a penalty kick by Robert Kinsey (Sr., Denver, Colo.).
Kinsey easily knocked the PK home in the 81st minute, tying the game up in unlikely fashion, 1-1.
As the game rolled over into overtime, the amped up ThunderWolves squad had the momentum and having only 10 men on the field barely seemed to impact them. The ThunderWolves were able to get two great chances off in the first and second overtimes, including a open look at the net by Ryan Hunter (Jr., Goodyear, Ariz.) that just sailed wide.
That all came crashing to an end, however, as a jumbled mess in front of the CSU-Pueblo goal after a throw-in bounced into the goal, handing the game over to the Mountain Lions.
The loss drops the Pack to 1-5-1 this season and 1-2 in conference play, and just as important, dings the Pack in the "Steel and Silver Series," the all-sports competition between CSU-Pueblo and UCCS. The ThunderWolves' loss assures UCCS of at least a split in the men's soccer season series, which is one of the ten sports that count toward the UCCS standings.
